Motorboats are widely used for towing people that ride on various devices. For example a toroidally shaped tube may be towed behind a motorboat, carrying a person on top. The prior art has developed covers for encasing these tubes. These covers, which are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,451,239 and 4,635,581 provide a means for attaching the tow rope from the motorboat and provide a closed bottom. The covering has an opening in the top, which opening allows the rider to sit inside the tube. The rider thus sits on the bottom of the cover. Prior art covers are typically made of a sheet-like material such as vinyl. The closed bottom of the prior art covers cause the tube to plane on top of the water and provide a supporting surface for the rider.
I have found that prior art covers suffer from the problem of providing an uncomfortable ride. Because the rider is separated from the water only by a thin sheet of vinyl material (the bottom of the cover), all of the forces exerted by the vinyl as the tube and cover are towed across the water are transmitted directly to the rider. Although some bumps may be desirable, with prior art covers many of the bumps experienced by a rider are "hard" shocks to the rider's body. For many people, these hard shocks diminish the enjoyment of riding in the riding apparatus.